Improvement in railroad-tickets



UNITED STATES PATENT QEEIoEC JOHN l?. WHITEHEAD, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

,IMPROVEMENT IN RAILROAD-TICKETS.

Specification-forming part of Letters Patent No. 99,125, dated January 25, 1870; aniedated January 16, 1870.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN I. WEITEHEAD, of Chicago, in the State of Illinois, have invented a new and Improved B'ailway Check- Ticket; and I do declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 represents a single ticket; Fig. 2, a series bound in book-form.

My improved ticket is designed chieiiy for the use of, and as a check upon, conductors who receive the fare of passengers on a train. By the use of this ticket a conductor will be able readily to keep an accurate account of moneys received by him from passengers, and will by it be aided in making his report to the company of such moneys. The adoption of this ticket by railway companies will greatly increase the chances of detecting dishonest conductors, and render it much more diicult for such to defraud the company.

To enable others to make and use my improved check-ticket, I proc-eed to describe it and the manner of using.

My ticket, as placed in the hands of the conductor, is a double or duplicate ticket, one half or part of which is to be given by the conductor to the passenger paying fare, and the other half is to be retained by the conductor and returned to the office of the company employing him. To facilitate separation the ticket should be puncture in the usual manner along the line of separation, marked a, Fig. I. At the top of the ticket may be printed the name of the company by which issued. The tickets should also be numbered consecutively from l to any desired number, each half or part having the same number upon it. Upon each half of the ticket is printed the names of all stations on the line or route in the usual manner. This printing is to be so done that when the ticket is folded together along the line a each station on each half will be opposite the same station on the other half. A suitable margin must be left in both parts of the ticket, in which margins the punch of the conductor is to be used, as more fully hereinafter described. On the back of one part, A, may be printed some statement showing that it is designed for the passenger, and on the other half, B, should be some printed matter showing that it is to be retained by the conductor and by him returned to the company. A convenient num ber of these tickets may be bound in book-form, the half which is to be returned to the company having a margin for that purpose, the other half being simply folded in, but not bound in, so that it can be easily detached. From fty to one hundred tickets will be found a suitable number for ordinary use, but a greater or less number can be used in a single book. The tickets in each book will be numbered, when printed, consecutively, the rst ticket in each book being numbered one, (l.) If desired, the several conductors on the line may be designated by some letter of the alphabet, which letter may be printed on each part of each ticket in the books given such conductor. When the book is given the conductor the date of its issue may be stamped thereon, and the conductor charged therewith on the books of the company. It is not necessary that the tickets be bound in a book. They may be given to the conductor in packages, but I consider the book-form preferable.

My improved check-ticket is to be used as follows: Each conductor will be required to give each passenger from whom he collects fare one part, A, of the duplicate ticket, but before doing so, and before separating such part from the other part, B, he must punch at the same time both parts of such duplicate in the margin opposite the station at which the passenger enters the train, and also opposite the station to which he pays fare-for example, taking the ticket shown in the drawings, a passenger enters the cars at Evanston and pays fare to Racine, the conductor must punch the duplicate ticket through both parts before unfolding it-one punch opposite E van ston, the other opposite Racine. The part A is then to be separated from the part B and given to the passenger, both parts being punched alike. That part retained by the conductor shows on its face the amount of money received, and the book when returned to the company is itself a report of moneys received.

I do not suppose that the use of this ticket will render it impossible for a conductor to defraud the company, but notices to the effect that every way passenger must have a ticket when he pays his fare may be posted in the cars, and the system adopted will soon be understood by the traveling public; and if a conductor frequently neglects to give tickets to way passengers, or if he be in the habit of separating one part from the other before punching the two parts, it will soon be observed and brought to the notice of the company.

The margin of each part is along the line of separation and at the outer edge of the book, rendering it difficult to punch the two parts separately without rst separating them.

Instead of printing the names of stations on the tickets, numbers designating the same might be used, in which case two rows of numbers might be used on each ticket, each having its margin, which could be reached by the will be impossible to punch the two tickets separately while they remain attached to each other, all arranged and contrived substantially as and for the purpose specified. Y

JOHN P. WHITEHEAD.

Witnesses:

E. A. WEST, L. L. BOND. 

